Poker is the most popular card game of the world, and the emergence of online poker has made it even more widespread, making organized multiplayer poker games available for people who have played this popular game only in their family or their community before.

At first poker was a game that was also played in casinos – and real life casinos still have their poker rooms – but after the ‘online gambling revolution’ of the mid-1990s the two games have mostly gone their separate ways. Nowadays there are online casinos with their typical games of chance (single-player games, played against the house) and online poker rooms, where players from all over the world sit down to the same virtual table and play against each other.

Online casinos are not without their own version of poker games, though. There are several casino poker variants played in online casinos, and real life ones as well, where strategy doesn’t have such a big role, the outcome being mostly decided by pure luck. Let’s see which ones are the most popular ones.

3 card poker
As its name suggests, the 3 Card Poker is a casino poker variant played with hands of three cards, on a table similar to the one used for playing blackjack. Each player is dealt three cards, used to form the best possible poker hand (according to standard card ranking). The player places a bet, receives the cards and decides to keep playing or fold. When this is done, the dealer’s cards are revealed, and the strongest hand wins. This is a very simple variant of draw poker.

Casino Hold’em poker (Caribbean Hold’em)
This was the first Texas Hold’em variant played against the house, and not other players. It was introduced in 2000 by Stephen Au-Yeung. The game is played with a standard 52-card deck. Each player makes an Ante bet, and each player – and the dealer – is dealt two cards facing down. Three cards are then placed on the table. A first betting round occurs – players can fold, call or double the Ante bet. Afterwards other two cards are dealt facing up, and players – and the dealer – try to form the best possible poker hand using the two cards in hand and three of the ones placed on the table. The dealer has to have at least a pair of fours to qualify. Each player’s hand is compared to the dealer’s hand, and the strongest one wins.

Pai-Gow poker
A popular Asian poker variant – a combination of poker and Pai-Gow, a Chinese game originally played with Chinese dominoes. The game proceeds according to official Pai Gow rules – each player is dealt seven cards, that are divided in two hands (one consisting of two cards, another one consisting of five). The strongest of the hands wins.

Is it worth playing these casino poker variant? Well, sometimes it is – especially because online casinos usually have some really attractive bonuses. Check out the Roller Offers at Euro Palace, for example. As casino games usually don’t require the player to think, they are a good way to relax between two tournaments, and possibly also a way to win some extra money.